Absent last year’s drama of Serena Williams going for the calendar Grand Slam, this year’s U.S. Open has gotten off to a slower start in the Nielsens.
Coverage of the U.S. Open has averaged 599,000 viewers across ESPN and ESPN2 through Wednesday, down 30% from last year (853K) but up 11% from 2014 (540K). In the past five years, this year’s average ranks directly in the middle of the pack — behind 2015 and 2013, but ahead of 2014 and 2012.
All eight telecast windows have declined from last year, with six of the eight down by more than a quarter.
As should be no surprise, the most-watched telecast thus far was Tuesday’s night session featuring Serena Williams. The window had 844,000 viewers on ESPN, down 9% from last year (926K) and down 8% from 2014 (918K).
Wednesday’s night session, which featured Rafael Nadal, pulled 721,000 — down 32% from last year (1.1M) but up 22% from 2014 (591K). Monday’s window, which featured Novak Djokovic and Madison Keys, had just 501,000 (-48%). Keep in mind last year’s comparable windows featured either Serena or Venus Williams.
| U.S. OPEN VIEWERSHIP First three days |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Session | Net | Vwrs. | 2015 | +/- |
| Monday | Day | ESPN | 484K | 680K | -29% |
| ESPN2 | 362K | 677K | -47% | ||
| Night | ESPN2 | 501K | 962K | -48% | |
| Tuesday | Day | ESPN | 580K | 651K | -11% |
| Night | ESPN | 844K | 926K | -9% | |
| Wednesday | Day | ESPN | 619K | 953K | -35% |
| ESPN2 | 474K | 701K | -32% | ||
| Night | ESPN2 | 721K | 1.07M | -33% | |
